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Francis Kynaston
Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston (1587-1642) was an English poet, lawyer, courtier, and politician, who wrote in both Latin and English. Life Kynaston was born at Oteley (near Ellesmere), Shropshire, the eldest son of Isabel (Bagenall), daughter of Sir Nicholas Bagenall, and Sir Edward Kinaston , High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1599.Bradley, 355. On 11 December 1601 Kynaston entered Oriel College, Oxford. According to Wood he was more addicted "to the superficial parts of learning, poetry and oratory (wherein he excelled), than to logic and philosophy".Wood, Athenæ Oxon. ed. Bliss, iii. 38. He earned a B.A. from St. Mary Hall on 14 June 1604. He then moved to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he earned an M.A. in 1609. he was also granted an M.A. from Oxford on 11 November 1611. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1611.Bradley, 356. Kynaston married Margaret Lee (daughter of Sir Humphry Lee, 1st Baronet) in 1613. They had one son, Edward (?1613 - 1656). In 1621 Kynaston was elected Member of Parliament for Shropshire. He became esquire of the body to Charles I on the King's accession in 1625. Some sources claim he was taxor of Cambridge University in 1623, and was proctor there in 1634, but Venn states that he was beinng confused with another Francis Kynaston. At court Kynaston was the centre of a literary coterie. In 1635 he founded an academy of learning, called the Musæum Minervæ, for which he obtained a license under the great seal, a grant of arms, and a common seal; Charles also contributed from the treasury. Kinaston gave his own house in Bedford Street, Covent Garden, for the college, which he furnished with books, manuscripts, musical and mathematical instruments, paintings, and statues at his own expense. On 27 February 1636 Prince Charles, the Duke of York, and others visited the museum, and a masque by Kynaston, entitled Corona Minervæ, was performed in their presence. In July of the same year Sir George Peckham bequeathed money to the institution. Shortly after this, Kynaston was preoccupied with a certain "hanging furnace," recommended by him to the lords of the admiralty for ships of war. Kinaston died in 1642, and was buried at Oteley. The museum appears to have perished with the death of its founder. Writing Kynaston is noted for his rhyme royal translation of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde into Latin verse. This was published as Amorum Troili et Creseidae Libri Quinque in 1639, with a commentary, prefaced by fifteen short poems by Oxford writers, including William Strode and Dudley Digges (Oxford, 1635). He also made a Latin translation of Henryson's Testament of Cresseid. Kinaston also contributed to the Musæ Aulicæ by Arthur Johnston, a rendering in English verse of Johnston's Latin poems, London, 1635. Kynaston was also the author of an heroic romance in English verse, Leoline and Sydanis, containing some of the legendary history of Wales and Anglesey. This was published with Cynthiades: Sonnets to his Mistresse addressed by Kinaston to his mistress under the name of Cynthia (London, 1642, 4to). The sonnets, which do not technically deserve that title, are often of genuine merit. They were probably published earlier in a separate volume: Ellis, in Specimens of Early English Poets, quotes from an edition dated 1641. Recognition Kynaston was knighted by James I at Theobalds on 21 December 1618. The site of his museum is marked by Kynaston's Alley, Bedfordbury. His poetry was included in the New Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1950. Publications Poetry *''Leoline and Sydanis: A romance of the amorovs adventures of princes; together with svndry affectionate addresses to his mistresse, under the name of Cynthia''. London: R. Hearne, 1642. **also published in Minor Poets of the Caroline Period, Volume II (edited by George Saintsbury). Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1905. Play *''Corona Minervae; or, A masque''. London: William Sheares, 1635. Non-fiction *''The Constitutions of the Musarum Minervae''. London: T. Purfoot, for Thomas Spencer, 1636. *Commentary, in Geoffrey Chaucer, The Loves of Troilus and Cressida, written by Chaucer, with a commentary by Sir Francis Kynaston, never before published (edited by Francis Godolphin Waldron). London: F.G. Waldron, 1796. Translated *Arthur Johnstone, Musae querulae de regis in Scotiam profectione. London: Thomas Harper, for Nathaniel Butler, 1633. *Geoffrey Chaucer, Amorum Troili et Cresidae: libri duo priores anglico-latini. Oxford, UK: Iohannes Lichfield, 1635. *Arthur Johnstone, Musae Aulicae. London: Thomas Harper, for Nathaniel Butler, 1635. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search reults = au:Francis Kynaston, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, July 30, 2016. See also * List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, July 30, 2016. * Cesare Cuttica, "Sir Francis Kynaston: The importance of the ‘Nation’ for a 17th-century English royalist", History of European Ideas, 32:2 (June 2006), 139-161. * G.H. Turnbull, "Samuel Hartlib's connection with Sir Francis Kynaston's 'Musaeum Minervae'". Notes and Queries 197 (1952), 33-7. Publisher: Oxford University Press. ISSN 00293970. Notes External links ;Poems *Sir Francis Kynaston at Poetry Nook (2 poems) *Sir Francis Kynaston (1587-142) info & "Leoline and Sydanis" (complete) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 * Francis Kynaston at PoemHunter (42 poems) ;About *Sir Francis Kynaston (1587-1642) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 *Kynaston, Sir Francis (1587-ca.1646) in the History of Parliament Online. * Sir Francis Kynaston in the Cambridge History of English and American Literature Etc. *Museum Minervae, Survey of London vol. 36. Category:1587 births Category:1642 deaths Category:English poets Category:Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) Category:Cavalier poets Category:17th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Latin-language poets Category:Poets Category:Alumni of St Mary Hall, Oxford Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge